Big Dreams come true.
With the support of many.
A big dream of the Girls at Free Birds Open Shelter Home became a reality on Jan 28th. The Food Corner covering an area of more than 1000 square feet. with the following units got inaugurated, which happened to be the 2nd birthday of Arm of Joy.
1. A Kitchen with all facilities
2. A dining room where around 40 kids can have food at a time.
3. A work area adjacent to Kitchen
4. A sitout in front of Dining room, where sponsors of Food can interact with Kids.
The entire project was finished in a span of 8 months with a budget in excess of 6 lakhs, which is the biggest project that Arm of Joy has executed in these 2 years. As per the policy that we follow right from the inception of Arm of Joy, we never did any Fund Raising for this big project and depended only on people who come to us with money for celebrating birthdays, anniversaries etc. We have been accumulating such small amounts in the last 8 months and that is why we took so much time to complete the project.
The inauguration of this much awaited Food Corner was done by 4 little girls of the home. A very informal inauguration session was followed with a DJ Party for the kids of Free Birds.
Months ago, the Kitchen of Free Birds Open Shelter Home for Girls was in a pathetic state and we were thinking for quite some time to renovate the same. But since the walls & roof of it were so weak, we dropped the plan for renovating and thought of constructing a new one with all facilities. Later we decided to construct a Dining room too, adjacent to the kitchen. We spotted a Shed, which they were using as Virakupura and planned to create a Kitchen + Dining Area there, by extending this area & replacing the roof.
> The mason work was started with an amount shared by Anitha from Saudi & a group of her friends, who are old students of Farook Training College. The entire work which also included plastering work, making of concrete slabs in kitchen & fixed benches in dining room could be completed with the support of Rajesh from Abudhabi, Jayesh from Australia who transferred money for doing some noble deed and also Neema from UK, who contributed on the day of remembrance of her father.
> The required quantity of Cement for the mason work was bought with the amount shared in the name of Kenny mon from Dubai who celebrated his 7th birthday on 29th of June and also with the contributions from Nikhil from Mumbai & Peeto from USA. Metal, TMT Steel & other stuff needed for concrete were bought with the money shared by Soorej from Bangalore in the joy of becoming a father. And Sand for the work was ensured with the support of Vrinda from Dubai & Devi from USA, who had donated for meeting any noble & urgent need.
> Trafford sheets for doing the roofing were bought with the amount shared to celebrate the birthday of Aditya mon from Doha in July and also with another donation of Fincy Felix from Sharjah. The iron & other materials for doing the tress work was bought with the amount shared by the parents of Nainika mol from Doha, who celebrated her 3rd birthday on 30th August . The labour charge for the entire work of about 1090 sq ft of roofing was met with the donations from the following – (1) Priyalekha from Delhi, who wanted to make the occasion of the 4th birthday of her son, Ayaan mon on 29th August, a meaningful one. (2) Divya Haridas from Banglaore, who wished to do something noble in the memory of her father on the 10th death anniversary, which was on 17th August. (3) Sachna Sundar from Dubai, who spent time with the girls of Free Birds & loved to meet any immediate requirement for them, while she was here in Kozhikode for the last few weeks on her vacation.
> The work of Smokeless Furnace for the Kitchen was completed by keeping in mind that cooking for around 30 girls needs to be done with this. There were 3 furnaces of which, two are big and vessels of good capacity can be kept on it. The work of furnace was done with the amount shared by Lija from US and also with another donation from Susan of Kozhikode to celebrate her son Ajay’s birthday today.
> A group of friends named Manalz residing near MIMS hospital, who wanted to do something during Onam 2016, was given the option of buying floor tiles. The team represented by Mr. Sibin then informed us that they are interested in taking up the entire flooring work of the project. This awesome group of buddies bought vitrified tiles for Dining room & good looking tiles of matt finish for Kitchen. Not only flooring, they have paved tiles on the top of benches in Dining room & working slabs in Kitchen. They themselves arranged the labourers to do the tile paving work & even gifted a Stainless steel Sink for the kitchen. The contribution from the Team Manalz comprising of Sujith, Ratheesh, Sandeep, Shinod, Sabari, Vibhul, Ragesh, Shanob, Babin, Shanu, Prashob, Sarath, Dayal & Sibin thus turned out to be a major one in the construction of Dining room.
> The Wall Tiling of Kitchen + Dining Room at Free Birds Open Shelter Home for Girls is over. The tiles were also paved on the floor of the sit-out of the Dining Room.
> The tiles for the walls of Kitchen + Dining Room were purchased with the amount shared by Rajesh & Sumesh who celebrated the 4th anniversary of their Elan Beauty Parlour at Emarald Mall, on October 18th. The labour cost for paving the tiles was met with the amount shared by Anumol from USA.
> The electrical wiring work for the Kitchen + Dining room was done by ensuring that there will be enough lighting, fans & other power plugs for this section. The work was done with the amount shared in the name of Siddhanth from Bangalore, whose parents celebrated their birthdays & wedding anniversary in the month of November. The budget for buying switch boards, switches & similar electrical materials that ensure safety in the for girls was met with the contribution from Priya Sivaraman from Pattambi.
> A good amount of work was involved to provide water connection for the Kitchen & also for ensuring proper drainage facility. The entire Plumbing work was done with the support of Amitha from Qatar, who was celebrating her birthday on November 29th.
> There were 4 dining tables already at Free Birds Open Shelter Home for Girls and we needed to arrange 3 more tables for the Dining Room. With the amount shared on the occasions of birthday celebrations of 3 cutie pies in November, we could ensure 3 more tables of the same design as that of the earlier ones. The granite slabs for the table top were purchased during the celebration of 2nd birthday of Anidya mol on Nov 21. The frames for the 3 tables in metal were made with the amount shared on the 7th birthday of Bubly mol on Nov 20. The cutting & moulding of granite slabs were done with the contribution on the occasion of the 3rd birthday of Havish mon on Nov 19.
> There was a fair conducted at Start Right School in Kozhikode as part of the value education and the amount raised by kids was meant to be used for some noble cause. When the authority of PeoplePro who organized the fair for the kids contacted us, we had mentioned about the requirement of chairs for the dining room we are constructing for the girls of Free Birds Open Shelter Home. They were quite happy to use the money raised for this purpose and 11 chairs of the brand Damro were bought with the contribution from them. The best thing was that the kids from Start Right came to Free Birds to interact with the girls there and handed over the money.
> The paints & related materials needed for the entire block were bought with the support of Vineetha from Kozhikode & Rineesh Kumar from Kozhikode. The labour charges for the painting was met with the contributions of Baiju from Dubai & Vikas Parimoo from Kozhikode.
> As we had used Trafford sheets for the roofing of Dining room, there was always a chance of spider webs & things like that forming beneath the roof. And so we did false ceiling with PVC sheets to ensure that the kids can eat safely and also it will make the room look bright & beautiful. The false ceiling work was done with the amount shared in the name of a couple of little boys from California, Pranav & Raunav, on the joyful occasion of New Year. The balance budget required for other PVC work to cover the side portions under the roofing was met with the contribution of Navaraj from Saudi Arabia.
> The main door of the Dining room was made possible with the support of a group of friends who studied together at Govt. Medical College Campus Higher Secondary school 6 years ago. They use to do whatever possible from their end on every New Year day and this time they contacted us for checking various options available. When we told them about the work at Free Birds, they were happy to contribute the money they raised for this purpose. They all came to Free Birds on Jan 1st evening as a big group and organized an entertainment session also for the girls. Cake cutting, Songs, Games, Dance and loads of fun on the new year day for all girls there.
> The 2 doors of the kitchen could be done with the amount shared by three friends - Vinitha, Christy & Jisha who all studied together in Providence Women’s college during late 90’s. Special Thanks to Divya of the same group of friends who informed her friends about this project of Arm of Joy at Free Birds to ensure a hygienic & beautiful Kitchen + Dining Room for the girls there.
> A total of 5 windows were fixed so that there is enough ventilation & also plenty of natural light inside the Kitchen & Dining room. For the convenience of kids, we have made it in Fibre with sliding option. The windows for Kitchen was fixed with the amount shared by Hema from Doha on the death anniversary of her father. And the windows for Dining room were done with the support of Lini from California.
> A shelf in Kitchen for keeping groceries & other items was made as per the design given. The colourful shelf which can accommodate lots of things was done with the support of Rajesh from Abudhabi.
> The girls at Free Birds Open Shelter Home were in need of a Shoe Rack where they can keep their school shoes & the extra footwear. There was a space in front of Dining room and we arranged a shoe rack at that spot with Aluminum channels & Fibre sheets. A minimum of 60 pairs of footwear can now be kept in this rack, which has 3 layers. The shoe rack was arranged for the joy of Diya mol from US, who was celebrating her 6th birthday on 29th December.
> The mason work & other cleaning work outside the Kitchen + Dining room was done with the support of Shalini who wanted to make a meaningful contribution on her birthday which was on Jan 15th. A path was also laid around the dining room, so that the girls there can go comfortably to their bathroom even without wearing footwear. The cement & sand required for this work were bought with the money shared in connection with Kalyani mol’s birthday on Feb 11.
> A dish wash area was also arranged behind the kitchen with the contribution from Happy Times, Kozhikode.
> All the decorative Items like Boards, Vinyl Stickers, Thank You Board, Flowers, Flower vase etc to make the doors, walls & interiors of Food Corner beautiful, were arranged with the amount shared on the birthday of Ameesha from Qatar on Feb 9.
> With the contribution from Reshma Safar of Kozhikode who had infact shared her interest to sponsor the utensils & vessels, months ago when we started the work of Kitchen, we purchased all such stuff required. We took the cook of Free Birds to Melepalayam & bought most of the things that the home was in need of.
> Almost all the crockery items needed were bought with the amount shared in the name of Amy mol from Kozhikode who celebrated her birthday on July 10. 32 sets of serving plates, water glass etc & a couple of plate racks were bought for Food Corner.
> Things such as Music System, Ceiling Fan for kitchen, Wall Fan for dining room & Hanging Lights & Bulbs, Floor Mats, Rubber Sheet & Duster, Water Jugs, Table Mop, Floor Mop & Trays were arranged with the contribution from Sanjana of Singapore for a good cause. The clocks needed for Kitchen & Dining room were bought with the amount shared by Deepthi of Kozhikode.
> A DJ party for the kids on the Innauguration day was arranged for the joy of Soorej from Bangalore whose wedding anniversary was on Feb 4th. The transportation cost of various materials during the entire project period of about 8 months was also met by Soorej. The petrol & other miscellaneous expenditure during the project period was covered with the donations from Dr. Valsala, Vaibhav, Niranjana & an unknown supporter.
> The first treat inside the all new dining room was on the wish of Susan from Kozhikode and Asha of Chennai, on the eve of Innauguration of Food Corner. We also arranged Payasam & Cake as wished by Baiju of Dubai.
